He then attended the public schools of Hoboken, graduating in 1885. He obtained employment in a broker's office in New York City, where he remained but a short time, and then worked in a wholesale drug house for a year. He was afterward employed by the Western Union Telegraph Company as a messenger, and rapidly advanced to the position of receiving and

delivery clerk in the Maritime Exchange office, which position he held until 1890, when he resigned because of ill health and a desire for outdoor employment. He then entered the employ of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company of New York as an agent in the Hoboken district, which position he occupied for one year, when he was promoted to the position of assistant

superintendent, which he held for four years. In 1892 he enrolled as a student in the Metropolis Law School, which has since been merged with the University Law School of the City of New York, attending the evening sessions and graduating therefrom in 1895. He was admitted to the New Jersey bar as an attorney at law and solicitor in chancery at the June term, 1895, and as a counselor in November, 1899. He is also a master in chancery by appointment of the late Chancellor Alexander T. McGill and a member of the bar of the United States District and Circuit Courts.

Subsequent to his admission to the bar the officers of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company offered him the position of superintendent, which offer was declined by Mr. Fallon, he having determined to practice law, and in February, 1896, he severed his connection with the company and formed a copartnership with ex-Judge William E. Skinner and Assemblyman John J. Marnell, under the firm name of Skinner, Marnell & Fallon. This partnership continued for two years, when it was dissolved. Mr. Marnell and Mr. Fallon thereafter formed a copartnership under the firm name of Marnell & Fallon, and they have offices in the Second National Bank building, Hoboken. Mr. Fallon has been active in politics for a number of years. In every political campaign for the past seven years his voice has been heard in advocacy of the Democratic party, but he never sought nor accepted office until 1899, when, at the earnest solicitation of his friends, he accepted the nomination for member of the General Assembly of the State of New Jersey, and on November 7 of that year was elected by a majority which attested at once his popularity and the confidence in which he is held. In that office as well as at the bar he has displayed marked ability and energy.

Mr. Fallon is affiliated with numerous societies, among which are Hoboken Lodge, No. 74, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Hoboken Council, No. 159, Knights of Columbus, Court Castle Point, No. 54, Foresters of America, the Robert Davis Association, and the M. J. Coyle Association.

He was married December 20, 1893, to Mary L., daughter of Patrick Kelley, of Hoboken. They have two children: John J. Fallon, Jr., and Marguerite Fallon.

ADDISON ELY, a leading lawyer of Rutherford, Bergen County, and Captain of Company L, Second Regiment New Jersey Volunteers, is the great-grandson of Captain Levi Ely, a hero of the Revolutionary War, who was killed in the battle of Mohawk, and who is buried in West Springfield, Mass., under a monument erected to his memory by public spirited citizens in recognition of his patriotism and worth. The family has been prominent in the Connecticut Valley, and particularly in Massachusetts, for many generations, while a number of its branches have wielded a potent influence for good in other sections of the country. Captain Addison Ely's mother, Emeline Harrison, was the daughter of Seth Harrison, who was a cousin of I'resident William Henry Harrison, the grandfather of President Benjamin Harrison. This family has also been a prominent one in Western Massachusetts.

Captain Elv is the son of William and Emeline (Harrison) Ely. and was born in Westfield, Mass., May 23. 1853. On the death of his mother, in 1862, he came with his father to Bloomfield, N. J., an aristocratic suburb of Newark, and here and in the vicinity he has ever since resided. He fitted for college at the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute and at Phillips

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Andover Academy. It was his ambition and intention to enter Harvard University, but circumstances compelled him to abandon a collegiate course and begin life as a teacher, which he did at the age of eighteen. taught a district school at Connecticut Farms, Union County, N. J., and subsequently became Principal of the Caldwell High School in Essex County, and during this connection, and afterward, he also studied law with a view of being admitted to the bar.

In 1879, however, he temporarily relinquished this intention and accepted the principalship of the public school at Rutherford, N. J., which he filled with marked ability and satisfaction for several years, gaining a high standing for thoroughness and excellent discipline. Many of his pupils are successfully settled in the arts and professions in or near Newark, and owe their first inspiration and early training to his efforts, and he continues to hold their respect, love, and confidence.

Having thoroughly prepared himself in legal study, Captain Ely was admitted to the bar of New Jersey as an attorney at the February term of the Supreme Court in 1888 and as a counselor in February, 1891, and has continuously and successfully practiced his profession in Bergen County. He rapidly came into prominence as an able lawyer, and by his untiring energy, industry, and careful preparation has won many notable victories. His practice takes him into all the courts, and has constantly increased, giving him a high standing at the bar and, locally, the position of a leader.

He is an ardent and active Democrat, but has never sought nor accepted political office, preferring to devote his whole time to his profession. He is always ready, however, to bear a loyal citizen's part in public and party affairs, takes a deep interest in all worthy movements affecting the community, and does not hesitate to condemn selfish motives or unworthy schemes. He is especially prominent in military circles, having been Captain of Company L, Second Regiment, N. G. N. J., since 1893, when he was unanimously elected to that office. Under his management and discipline that company has gained a remarkable degree of efficiency. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church and of almost all the leading socie ties and organizations of Rutherford, including the Masonic order, the Royal Arcanum, the Legion of Honor, and the Union Club.

In 1874, when he was twenty-one years of age, Captain Ely married Miss Emily J. Johnson, of Connecticut Farms, N. J., and they have had seven sons and three daughters, all of whom are living. Their eldest son, Addison Ely, Jr., born in 1876, is a graduate of Columbia College, New York. For two years he edited the Bergen County Herald. He was graduated from the Law Department of Michigan University in June, 1900, and now is engaged in active practice with his father.

ALPHONSE THOUROT, a leading plumber and the Postmaster of Taurus in the Town of West New York, Hudson County, was born in West Hoboken, N. J., February 25, 1860. His parents, Louis Thourot and Catherine Perenot, were both natives of France, coming to this country when young. The former served for a time in the War of the Rebellion.

Mr. Thourot was educated in the public schools of West Hoboken. At the age of thirteen he began life as an apprentice to the plumbing and gasfitting trade, which he mastered in some of the best establishments in West Hoboken and New York. In 1881 he engaged in business for himself in West Hoboken, but the next year moved to the Town of Union, where

he continued until 1891, when he sold out. During this period he not only achieved success, but also gained a high reputation as a first-class plumber and gas and steam fitter, and came to be regarded as a man of ability and integrity. In 1891 he assisted in the organization of the Union Granite Company, located at the "Old Ferry" in West New York, and for about four years was its President. Under his able management that company laid the foundation of its present prosperity and usefulness.

In 1895 Mr. Thourot removed to West New York and opened his present plumbing establishment, and upon the creation of the postoffice of Taurus, on July 1, 1896, was made the Postmaster, which office he still holds. He was also Recorder of the Township of Union for five years and a Justice of the Peace for a similar period. He is a prominent member of Mystic Tie Lodge, No. 123, F. and A. M., of the Royal Arcanum, and of the Sons of Veterans. In politics he is a Democrat, earnest in his convictions, and active in the councils of his party. Public spirited and patriotic, he is esteemed for those abilities and virtues which mark the successful man.

Mr. Thourot was married on the 24th of August, 1880, to Eleanore, daughter of Gustav and Louise Fermont, of the Town of Union. They have one child, Emily.

JOHN B. WILLIAMS, one of the prominent and enterprising farmers of New Durham, Hudson County, is the eldest son of John Williams and Sarah A. Saunier and a grandson of John Williams, Sr., and Rebecca Smith. Of his paternal grandfather, John Williams, Sr., but little is definitely known. He was an honored resident of New Durham, and is supposed to have been lost on the Hudson River. By his wife, Rebecca Smith, he had children as follows: Leah, wife of Henry Post; Phoebe, wife of Job Smith; Margaret, wife of William Berry; John, Jr., who succeeded to the New Durham homestead; Ann, wife of Garret Van Giesen; and Rebecca, wife of John Green. John Williams, Jr., the only son, was a life-long resident on the family homestead, being born there in 1804, and dying there in 1881. He was always a farmer, an old-lime Whig, and a useful, enterprising citizen, universally respected for those virtues which distinguish an honest man. His wife, who died May 14, 1886, was Sarah Ann Saunier, daughter of Mitchell and Eliza (Vreeland) Saunier, of New Durham, and a descendant of Pierre Paul Saunier, a celebrated botanist who was sent to America by the French government to gather natural products of this country for transplanting in Europe; he came over with André Michaux, a French botanist and trader. Mr. and Mrs. Williams had seven children, as follows: Ann Eliza, who married Henry H. Van Glahn; John B., the subject of this sketch; Mitchell; Angeline; Margaret, who married Bryant Stephens; Mary Emma; and George E. Of these only John B., Mitchell, and Mary Emma are living.

John B. Williams was born December 15, 1836, on the old family homestead in New Durham, Hudson County, on which he has spent his entire life. His education was obtained in the common schools of the neighborhood. After completing his studies he learned the trade of bookbinder, which he followed as a business, in conjunction with farming, until 1864. Since then he has devoted himself to agricultural pursuits, building, and real estate, achieving eminent success in every sense of the term. He is regarded as one of the best farmers in his section of the State. Industrious, enterprising, and practical, he is universally respected for those broad and sterling qualities which mark the honest man. The esteem in which he is

held is attested by his popularity, and by the confidence reposed in his sound judgment and unimpeachable character. He is a man of the highest integrity, faithful to every trust, just and conscientious in all the relations of life, and modest and unassuming, though true to his convictions and fearless in discriminating between right and wrong. A keen sense of justice is one of his strongest characteristics. He is a Republican in politics, but has never sought political preferment or publicity of any kind. On the contrary he has declined official positions, though often urged to accept them. accepting only the position of State Visitor to the Agricultural College at New Brunswick, N. J. While he adheres to party lines on State and na

tional issues, he is strictly independent in all local maters, casting his vote and influence in favor of those candidates and movements which promise the greatest good, and which have the public welfare at heart. Born and reared on the farm, and educated in the practical school of experience, he developed a strong constitution, great mental energy, and high physical and intellectual abilities, and during a long and successful career has maintained the confidence of the entire community.

Mr. Williams was married in 1866 to Gertrude Edsall, daughter of Samuel and Isabella (Christie) Edsall and granddaughter of John Edsall and Gertrude Lydecker. They have had four children: John Walter Williams,